


Because of You

by kyjr



Category: Johnny's Entertainment, KAT-TUN (Band), Kanjani8 (Band)
Genre: AU, Fluff, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-13
Updated: 2013-10-13
Packaged: 2017-12-29 07:11:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1002457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyjr/pseuds/kyjr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Ryo confessed his love, nothing has changed. Except that Ueda is now noticing more and more about the other, and he starts to wonder about his own feelings...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Because of You

**Author's Note:**

> Sequel to [_Because I love you._](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1000994) Originally posted [here.](http://kingdom-lights.livejournal.com/6274.html#cutid1)

"What're you talking about? Amun was--"

"No, no - wasn't that the other guy? The one with the dog head."

"Oh my gosh, Ryo, seriously? That's _Anubis._ "

"Why are you 'oh my gosh'-ing me? Those names sound similar."

"You're getting the most important ancient Egyptian god confused with--"

"Shut up, Ueda," Ryo spat, throwing his papers in the air. Ueda huffed, crossing his arms.

"Want a hot chocolate?"

"Yes," Ryo said, sulking. Ueda raised an eyebrow. "...please."

"That's better," Ueda said, smiling slightly as he stood up and walked to Ryo's kitchen.

The two of them were once again in Ryo's apartment, arguing over their latest piece of homework for history. Luckily, it was the only class Ryo had with Ueda, and so he only had to deal with the other being a know-it-all on one subject.

It had been months since the 'incident', as they called it, and Ueda was back to normal. Except for the fact that he only ever spoke to Ryo. But really, Ryo didn't mind.

And then there was the little matter of Ryo's love.

They hadn't brought it up since that day, but Ryo knew Ueda thought about it sometimes. He had caught the other watching him with soft, thoughtful eyes, until he noticed Ryo's gaze and quickly looked away.

He also hadn't gone on any more dates.

"Do you want--"

"Gimme two," Ryo shouted back, and Ueda appeared soon after with two cups of steaming hot chocolate. He handed Ryo one, with two marshmallows thrown into the drink, before sitting back down next to him, drawing his feet up on the couch. "Yay."

 

>>><<<

 

Sometimes Ueda would find himself just gazing at Ryo, watching the way he moved, the way he spoke, the way he smirked. He hadn't noticed before the way his eyes would soften when he brought lunch for Ueda, because he knew he would forget it. Or the way he would run his tongue along his teeth when he was thinking.

Ueda also realised that Ryo knew most of the answers to these history questions. But he enjoyed being able to teach the other, and so kept quiet about it. He also enjoyed the little smiles he would get in return, but he wasn't admitting that to himself just yet.

Maybe, somewhere deep down, he was beginning to fall for Ryo. Maybe.

 

 

>>><<<

 

 

Ueda awoke one morning to one Nishikido Ryo pulling incessantly on his arm. "Wake up," he whined, and Ueda just groaned and flicked his arm over his eyes.

"Why?"

"Cause I promised Jin and Pi that I'd join them for breakfast, but I don't wanna go without you," Ryo muttered, pulling on his arm again.

Ueda sighed. "They're your friends. That Jin still creeps me out," he said, muffling a yawn before sitting up, dragging a hand through his messy hair. "Argh. Mornings."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ryo said happily, throwing clothes at Ueda. "Change!"

Ueda forced Ryo out of his room before changing into whatever the other had given him, and allowed himself to be dragged out of his house, throwing a hasty goodbye to his mother in the kitchen.

"When're you moving out?" Ryo asked, still pulling the other down the street.

"Whenever I can be bothered," Ueda said, straightening out his jacket as he walked.

"Why don't you just move in with me?" Ryo asked, schooling his features so that he looked indifferent, whilst really, his heart was pounding against his ribs. Ueda looked at him, wide-eyed.

"What?"

"Well...why not?"

"Because I don't have enough money-- I can't do anything-- what about rent, what about--"

"Calm down, Tatsuya," Ryo said, laughing slightly before turning to face the other, who had stopped walking. "Look, I have two jobs, right? And I've been paying my own rent for a while... I guess you could do housework and stuff, to pay me back," Ryo suggested, shrugging. Ueda sighed.

"I don't know..."

"Nah, it's fine, just think on it," Ryo said, and started walking again. Ueda rushed to keep up.

"Okay."

 

>>><<<

 

 

The offer had Ueda thinking. Moving in with Ryo would be great - he was his best friend, and they rarely fought. But... what about his feelings? He set his thoughts aside as they walked in through the doors of McDonalds, shivering slightly at the cool air inside the place.

"Ew... for breakfast?" Ueda groaned, but Ryo just shot him a smile over his shoulder and ordered for the two of them.

"What d'you reckon?" Ryo asked, shooting a glance over to his friends sitting at a table in the corner. "Do you think I could eat both pancakes and eggs?"

"Gross, Ryo."

"Oh, shut it. I'll get you something; go sit down."

Ueda stuck out his tongue at Ryo before heading over to Jin and Yamapi, who were squabbling about something. "Ueda!" Yamapi cried out happily, throwing an arm up in greeting. Ueda just nodded back, sliding into a seat opposite the two. Jin tilted his chin up at him.

"How are we, Ueda?" Yamapi asked, his fluorescent yellow vest glaringly bright under the flickering lights. Ueda shrugged.

"Okay," Ueda said, rubbing his hands on his jeans and searching for Ryo, who was waiting for his food to come. Yamapi smirked.

Suddenly, Jin pounced on him, grabbing ahold of Ueda's head and twisting it back. Ueda cried out in surprise, body frozen as Jin wrenched his head backwards and forwards, growling slightly when he couldn't find what he was looking for.

"Akanishi!" Ryo yelled, tackling his friend and pulling him off Ueda, who just sat there, panting. "What the fuck, man?" He threw Jin back down onto his spot, before sitting next to Ueda, placing their food on the table.

"Sorry," Jin muttered, going back to his burger, whilst Yamapi chuckled. "I was just wondering where your marks were."

"Marks?" Ueda and Ryo echoed, confused.

"Lovebites," Yamapi said offhandedly, taking a large bite out of his breakfast.

 _"What?"_ Ueda screeched, hands flying up to his neck instinctively.

Ryo laughed nervously. "What're you talking about?"

"Fine, whatever," Jin said, throwing a glance over to Ueda, who just stared back.

"You two are living together now, right?" Yamapi asked, and Ryo choked on his coffee.

"No-- I just asked him this morning," Ryo hissed. Ueda laughed.

"Oh. Okay. I'll ask again later, then," Yamapi said haughtily, watching the two of them. Ryo kicked him under the table. "Ouch."

"Hey guys," Ryo said, rather loudly and red-faced, trying to get them off the subject, "D'you reckon I can eat all of this?" he asked, gesturing to the tray of food infront of them.

"No way. Have you even gotten anything for your-- for Ueda?" Yamapi asked, whilst Jin snorted into his drink.

"Yes," Ryo said forcefully, taking two hash browns and passing them over to Ueda with a napkin and a coffee. "Here you go."

"Thanks," Ueda said, taking the food and smiling. Ryo turned redder, and Yamapi laughed.

"Shut up, Pi," Ryo snapped, and bit into a burger, sauce dripping down his chin. Yamapi laughed again, and even Jin had set down his food to watch Ryo finish his monster breakfast. Ueda sighed, and turned to the side so that he could watch him and maybe hit him on the back if he choked. Maybe.

He gingerly nibbled at the corner of his own greasy breakfast as he watched Ryo wolf down his burger, looking at it quite surprised when he realised that it actually tasted alright. He looked up, and saw Jin watching him. Ueda steadily held his gaze, before turning away when Ryo coughed, offering him his coffee. Jin had always creeped him out. He just had this stare that looked right through you.

"I'm fine," Ryo said, but slipped the burger over to Jin, who smiled and took it.

Ueda watched as Ryo started attacking his pancakes, his flimsy plastic knife and fork tearing his food rather than cutting it. Yamapi clucked his tongue. "You didn't finish the burger. The bet's off."

"It was never a bet," Ryo said, mouth full of pancake.

"Yeah, whatever," Jin smirked.

But Ueda wasn't paying attention to the three talking. He was focused on Ryo, who was laughing whilst leading the fork to his mouth. He hadn't noticed Ueda's stare.

It was stupid, Ueda knew, but he felt himself grow red in the face as he watched Ryo. The other closed his mouth around the fork, chewing as he listened to whatever Yamapi and Jin were saying. Syrup ran from his lips, down to his chin, and Ueda licked his own lips as he watched the trail run over his tanned skin. He watched the way Ryo's lips moved around the fork, tongue moving out to quickly catch the rest of his food before it fell off. Ueda felt hot and bothered as Ryo licked away the syrup from his chin, humming a little as he drew his tongue back into his mouth. Ueda had never realised it, but Ryo had beautiful lips.

"Honey, we're staring," a voice whispered into his ear, and Ueda whipped around, coming face-to-face with Jin, who smirked and shrugged his own protective vest on, before saluting them and walking away. Yamapi touched Ueda's neck lightly, ignoring Ryo's yelp, before laughing and rushing out after Jin.

"Bastards," Ryo muttered, sighing. "Ah, I'm full," he said, patting his stomach and pushing the tray away. It didn't seem like Ryo noticed Ueda had been staring, and he let out a breath. "You alright?"

"Yep. I'm great," Ueda said, smiling. He wasn't great.

"C'mon, let's go," Ryo said, getting up and throwing their trash away.

"You guys coming to Kame's nieces' party tonight?" Jin suddenly called, from the doorway. Ryo held up a hand, and Jin smiled, nodding before rushing back to where Yamapi was waiting in the truck.

 

>>><<<

 

Ueda made up his mind, showing up on Ryo's doorstep with boxes upon boxes piled up beside him.

"Hi," he said, rather breathlessly, having to carry up every box.

"...hi," Ryo said back, distracted by the boxes. "What's all this?"

"I'm moving in," Ueda chirped, pushing past Ryo and looking about. Ryo laughed. "What?"

"At least give me some warning, next time," he said, but grabbed a few boxes and moved them into his place. Ueda just laughed. "You can have the room next to mine - the study. Just leave everything here, and help me move everything from there, okay?"

"Why do you even have a study?" Ueda asked, as they walked over to the room, plastic garbage bags and brooms at the ready. "You always study on your couch."

"Shut up," Ryo said. "It's there to look good for my mother." Ueda held back a laugh.

The two had fun, moving the old, dusty furniture around and making sure there was enough room for Ueda's futon. Ryo found old clothes and photographs and oh Ueda, here's that basketball I borrowed from you in second grade and never gave back.

As they cleaned, Ueda's hair swept up into about three different ponytails, he thought about that breakfast. He had been thinking about it for a while, and come to the conclusion that either he was insane, or that he was falling for Ryo. He stood up, stretching and watching Ryo, who was elbow-deep in some old suitcases.

He felt the familiar pang in his stomach as he saw him, shirt rolled up to his elbows and sweat steadily dripping down his forehead, escaping out from underneath the bandanna he had tied about his hair.

His stomach flipped as Ryo looked up, flashing him a quick smile before returning to taking a picture off the wall. "Ryo...?" he called softly, and the other turned, looking at him expectantly as he wiped his hands on his pants.

"What's up?"

Ueda drew in a breath, and walked forward, stopping only when he was close. "Ryo." He swallowed, and Ryo just watched him with those dark eyes of his, full of curiosity.

"What's the matter? Are you tired? I could go and get you som--"

Ryo stopped as Ueda put a shaking hand on Ryo's arm. "Tatsu?" Ueda's eyes flicked up to his own, and he steadily ran his hand up Ryo's arm, feeling the goosebumps rise on Ryo's skin and hearing his breathing stutter. "Wh-What're you doing?"

Ueda didn't answer, content to just slide his hand up and down Ryo's arm, enjoying the warmth spreading across his body. He smiled slightly, and moved forward, resting his forehead against Ryo's chest.

It seemed to both Ryo and Ueda himself that Ueda had lost control of his body. He had no clue as to what he was doing; he was just following what his heart told him. Ryo's heartbeat was strong and rapid, and his scent was just a little bit sweaty, but he still smelt of Ryo. Up till now, Ueda didn't even know he knew Ryo's scent.

Ryo brought his arms up, wrapping them around Ueda's waist and drawing him in closer. Ueda sighed, and hugged him back. Ryo tucked Ueda's head under his chin, humming softly.

"Tatsu, what's wrong?" he asked after a while.

"Nothing," Ueda murmured, closing his eyes contently. He felt warm, and a little sleepy. "Why do you keep asking me that?"

"Because I worry."

Ueda nestled his head into the crook of Ryo's neck, feeling safer than he had in months. He loved the scent of Ryo surrounding him, the feel of his arms around him. "Thankyou."

 

>>><<< 

 

 _"There_ you are!" Kame chirped, waving at them from behind the fence. Balloons of all colours and sizes were strung from every possible hook, tied around trees and signposts and taped to the letterbox, just in case someone hadn't realised that it was a party. A clown was running around, all yellow and white and red and blue, chasing a group of small children with balloon animals and almost tripping over his own overly-large feet.

Ueda spotted Yamapi sitting on the roof of his truck, feet dangling down to tease the small daschund below as he sipped orange juice through a pink straw. Kame himself was red-faced and panting, his explanation being that he had just come off the jumping castle and that oh, you two should totally try it, when there's not a group of squealing girls in it.

Jin slung an arm around Kame's shoulders and steered him away, eagerly leading him back to the food table with a small smile at Ryo and Ueda. "It's time for Pin the Tail on the Donkey."

"Don't worry about Jin," Ryo murmured, as the two stepped through the gate. "He just needs time to warm up to you."

"I know," Ueda said. "I wanna try the jumping castle." Ryo laughed.

"Of _course_ you do," was all he said, before grabbing onto Ueda's hand and leading him forward. Ueda happily followed, a large grin on his face as he looked at their entwined hands - dark tan against pale cream. "What're you staring at?" Ryo asked curiously, letting go of Ueda's hand to take his shoes off.

"I've never really noticed that you were so dark before," Ueda replied, chuckling as Ryo inspected his hand. He toed his own shoes off. "I'm going in first!"

Ryo laughed again as Ueda pushed him sideways, struggling with the laces on his sneakers before following him into the castle. Everything inside was yellow, casting lemon-coloured shadows onto both Ueda and Ryo. Ueda laughed happily as Ryo bounded about, leaping off the walls and crashing head-first into the ground, only to bounce back up and do it all over again.

"I'm sorry _, who_ was the one who wanted to come in here?" Ueda mocked, gently bouncing from the aftermath of Ryo's jumps. Ryo just smiled at him breathlessly, and something tugged at his heart.

"I'd forgotten how much fun it is!" Ryo sighed, and promptly flopped onto his back, none too gracefully. Ueda chuckled, bouncing over to him and kicking Ryo's legs until he sat up. "What?"

"Come _on,_ " Ueda said, a wide smile on his face.

Ryo grumbled, but managed to get to his feet again, with the help of Ueda, who practically threw him at the wall of the jumping castle, laughing. "Hey!"

"Yeah?" Ueda asked innocently, as he jumped. "What's the problem?"

Ryo leapt at Ueda, who shouted in surprise and jumped away, turning around to poke his tongue at at the other. Ryo growled, but laughed, reaching for Ueda who tried to wrench himself out of his grasp.

Breathlessly, Ueda looked up at Ryo, whose smile was wide and his face was flushed. His hands moved from Ueda's arms to his back in a loose hug, and Ueda just smiled at him. "What?" he asked, but his stomach twisted as Ryo lowered his head, face slowly coming closer. "What're you doing?" he asked, his breath catching in his throat as he looked into Ryo's dark eyes.

Ryo just smiled softly before catching Ueda's lips in his own. Ueda gasped, and Ryo pulled away, eyes wandering over Ueda's face with a worried expression. "What? What's wrong? Did I hurt y-- I _told_ you; I _told_ you I'd h--"

Ueda shook his head, and leant up to kiss the corner of Ryo's mouth gently. "Nothing's wrong," he said softly, and Ryo just blinked. Ueda's heart was thumping against his chest as Ryo's eyes swept over his face. "It's because of you," he said, as though he had just realised something.

Ryo's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "What?"

"You," he said, bringing a hand up to trail through Ryo's hair lightly and chuckling when he closed his eyes, leaning into the touch. Ueda had no idea that he would act like that. "Everything is because of you."

"You're not making any sense," Ryo whispered, resting his forehead against Ueda's and sighing. "Is _that_ because of me?" he chuckled lightly, breath blowing across Ueda's face.

"Yes," he whispered, taking Ryo aback; he had only been joking. But as he looked into Ueda's eyes, all brown and without a hint of a lie in them, he smiled.

"About time."

Ryo moved Ueda around, so his back was against the castle wall. Ueda laughed as the castle dipped slightly, but Ryo was slowly covering Ueda's body with his own, and Ueda's breath caught in his throat, his heart hammering against his chest.

And as Ryo kissed him slowly, his soft lips upon Ueda's own, Ueda realised that he was in love.

Ueda Tatsuya was in love with Nishikido Ryo.

He smiled widely, and Ryo looked at him, puzzled. "I'm fine," Ueda laughed, cupping Ryo's face in his hands. "Stop worrying, and _kiss me again."_

Ryo felt a shiver run up his spine at Ueda's tone, his eyes gazing into Ryo's own, and all he could do was lower his head again, first pressing a kiss to the tip of his nose, and then kissing his lips gently.

"I'm not made of porcelain," Ueda murmured against Ryo's lips, "Stop being so careful." Ryo frowned, but Ueda leant forward, kissing Ryo hard, hands drawing Ryo closer. Ryo quickly took control of the kiss, bringing his hands up to the back of Ueda's neck and deepening the kiss.

"Hey, guys? It's time to cut the cake!" Kame yelled from outside the castle. They pulled apart, panting.

"Y-yeah, we're coming!" Ryo shouted back, but as he turned back to Ueda, who was breathless and flushed, he knew they weren't going to make it in time for cake.

　

\--the end


End file.
